Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is becoming an increasingly critical consideration in the development of future communication technologies. In M2M communications, machine type communication (MTC) devices such as smart meters, signboards, cameras, remote sensors, laptops, and appliances utilize a communication network to transmit data to a receiving host (e.g., a data collection server). MTC devices may differ dramatically from conventional communication devices. For instance, many MTC devices are designed to transmit sporadic bursts of one or a few short packets containing measurements, reports, and triggers, such as temperature, humidity, or wind speed readings. In some cases, MTC devices are expected to be installed in a fixed location or have low mobility. MTC devices are typically low complexity devices, targeting low-end (low average revenue per user, low data rate, high latency tolerances, etc.) applications. These devices often have severe limitations on power/energy consumption.
Uplink (UL) power control is an important radio resource management (RRM) function and is primarily used to set the transmission power level of a transmitting device (e.g., MTC device) in such a way that performance and transmission quality requirements are met. For example, UL power control is used to ensure that the required signal-to-noise-plus-interference (SINR) at a base station, or other network access node, is achieved and consequently, the corresponding transmitted information is correctly decoded. Another aim of UL power control is minimizing interference and transmit power. Minimizing transmit power, which has the benefit of reducing energy consumption, can be extremely important with respect M2M communications.